Seas Would Rise
by karkashan
Summary: Without you, I'm not me- sequel/prequel. Larsa Solidor was many things, but when it came to Penelo, a rational man wasn't exactly one of them. Now though, rumors persist of the Four Fiends, and possibility that she lives. Larsa x Penelo.
1. Second Gabranth, Downed Gabranth

Seas would Rise: Chapter One, A second Gabranth, a downed Gabranth

"_Older women. Are beautiful Lovers. They understand. I've been around some, and I have discovered, that older women know just how to please a man." - Ronnie Mcdowell, Older Women_

The 38 year old Larsa Ferrinas Solidor sighed for the umpteenth time that day, questioning once again his decision to reinstate the Senate. It seemed as if all the Senators lived for was to talk, and talk and talk and maybe even talk.

Fortunately though, one of the leaders in the Senate, and one of its youngest members in the history of Archadia, spoke up to silence the particular Senator that did not want to shut up. "Enough, Mestius," said the young Senator, "as important as tax laws and their finer points are, you know as well as I that the news that we have been negligent to give to our Emperor is more important."

Larsa turned his crowned head towards the young Senator. In more private moments, Larsa would often say to himself that although his father knew how to wear the crown with dignity, Larsa had to admit that he actually made the crown look good. "You have news, Dmitri? That's more important than the finer points of a couple of minor tax laws? I'm shocked, truly I am."

The assembled Senators, sans Mestius, all let out dry chuckles. Dmitri smirked at Mestius, before dropping it and turning his attention back towards his Emperor. "It's about the Nightmare Fiends, my Emperor."

Larsa sat up straighter in his chair, his attention focused upon his Senator's next words, "Have you found them?"

Dmitri nodded his head in the affirmative, "It is indeed so, my liege. We have discovered the location of the mystical weapons that can destroy the four Fiends that attacked Ivalice all those years ago. And not only that, but we've also ferreted out the Fiends' locations as well."

Larsa nodded his head, rubbing his chin in thought, "This is great news. I will need time, with possible help from Dalmasca, among other places, so that the destruction of the terrible Nightmares can be guaranteed."

Dmitri and the other Senators bowed their heads as Larsa stood up to leave. "We will leave this in your capable hands then, Emperor Solidor."

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In Larsa's office, three Judges stood at attention in front of their Emperor.

Larsa stood before them, gazing out at the city of Archades through one of the giant windows that let in the crimson light of the sunset into the room. He moved his head slightly to the side, glanced to be sure the three he had summoned were their, and turned his attention back to the city skyline.

"Judge Redalith."

The Judge wearing copper colored armor snapped to attention, her voice echoing hollowly through her helmet as she responded to her Emperor. "Yes, Lord."

"I want you to invite that Rozzarian, Al-Cid, to the meeting ground that we have used in the past. He will know the one of which I speak. You will leave immediately. Take the _Kefka_. Just remember to hail them before entering their airspace. While we may be on good terms with them at the present, Rozarrians are known for their...itchy trigger fingers, so to speak."

Redalith bowed slightly at the waist, clenched fist over her heart, before she turned around and left.

"Judge Broga."

The red metal clad Judge clanged his fist against his armor, "What is your command, my Master?"

Larsa sighed, "I thought I broke you of that habit, Broga."

"You are the one who saved my life, Master, and until I can pay off that large a debt, you will forever be my Master."

Larsa shook his head in defeat, "Never mind then. But what I want you to do is of a similar nature to the orders I gave Judge Redalith. I want you to take the _Thanatos_ with you to Dalmasca, where you will invite the Queen and her Consort to the meeting place of which they both already know."

Broga clanged his fist against his armor one more time, before turning to leave the room.

The third Judge spoke up after Broga had closed the door behind him, "I thank you, my Emperor, for not forcing me to go back to Dalmasca."

Larsa smiled sadly and turned around to look at the black colored armor wearing Judge. He walked closer to the younger man and said, "I know how awkward things have become between you and your parents. Of course, that's to be expected almost, with Ashe and Basch as your mother and father. Tell me though, do you still keep in touch with your elder brother?"

The Judge nodded his head, "I do, my Lord."

Larsa smiled for real this time, "That's good to hear. You should always keep in touch with your brother, as the relationship that you have with him is one of the most important relationships you'll ever form with another sentient being."

"Shall I be hunting down Balthier and Vaan, then, your Majesty?"

Larsa shook his head, "Just Balthier. I've already informed Vaan, and he'll be arriving to pick me up tomorrow. Now as for the ship that you are taking, I want you to take the _Alexander_. Be careful, Gabranth, and good luck."

Gabranth saluted in the same way that Redalith did, hand over the heart, before turning and walking away, his cloak fluttering with his quick movements.

Larsa sighed once again, looking out onto the flickering cityscape that was coming to life with the setting of the sun. Larsa's eyes narrowed slightly as he observed this, "Unlike the City, which sees the setting and rising of the sun every day, my sun, the light of my world, permanently set long ago."

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The 18 year old Larsa stared incredulously at the sight in front of him. For on the small terrace that adjoined his bedroom, hundreds of yards above the city streets, crouched the sky pirate and his pen pal, Penelo.

As soon as she noticed that she had Larsa's attention, Penelo smiled and waved at Larsa. "Hey there, Larsa! How have you been? Do you mind letting me in? It's rather drafty up here."

Larsa rushed forward to open up the window so that Penelo could crawl through the opening and into his bedroom. His expression remained rather alarmed as he asked her, "What were you doing out there?! Don't you know that you could've been killed by a passing airship? And furthermore, how on Ivalice did you manage to get up there in the first place?"

Penelo's expression grew sly as she tapped her nose playfully, "Trade Secret."

Larsa rolled his eyes and offered Penelo a hand, "As you wish it then. Would you like to get down from there, and possibly join me for a cup of tea? Or do you just want to stay perched upon my bookcase and watch me like a cat would as I do some mundane paperwork?"

Penelo took the proffered hand and gingerly leaped down onto the floor. She smiled as soon as she stood up again, "I'll take tea, thank you."

Larsa proffered his arm, Penelo took it, and the soon left his room to walk arm in arm down the hallway, to a small library, where Larsa had tea sent up to them.

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"So," Penelo said as she held the hot cup of tea, sniffing the warm fragrance and smiling because of it, "Do you know why I came here to see you?"

Larsa's voice was dry with sarcasm as he replied, "Enlighten me, my Lady."

"You know how I'm Vaan's navigator, right?" Larsa nodded, and Penelo took a small sip of her tea before continuing, "This tea is really good."

Larsa gave Penelo a little mock bow, "Thank you."

"Anyway, I'm usually Vaan's navigator, but ever since he's been getting chummy with this one girl, he hasn't left that city of Sky Pirates, Balfonheim or whatever it's called."

Larsa lifted a single eyebrow, "'This one girl'?"

Penelo shrugged, "Evidently she's Reddas's daughter."

The eyebrow lifted further, "Reddas had a daughter?"

Penelo nodded, "Yeah, it was news to me too."

The eyebrow, impossibly, moved even further upwards, which also freaked Penelo out a little bit. "So Vaan may very well become the future leader of Balfonheim? Somehow I'm not all too surprised by that. But that is quite besides the point, my Lady, as I am still wondering the exact nature of your visit. Not that I mind your company, but what was so important that you had to get my attention by climbing though my window?"

Penelo laughed weakly, "Well, you see, the thing is that I visited Ashe about a week ago, you know, for old times sake, and I got the honor of meeting her two three year old twin boys."

"She got married? I was unaware of that fact."

"Actually, no, she didn't get married."

"Ah. I see."

"Yeah..."

"Who's the father then?"

"Do you remember when Basch and you visited Ashe a little over three and a half years ago?"

Larsa nodded, "Yes I do. But I don't see how that has....." He stopped in mid sentence, and his eyes widened imperceptibly. "I see...."

Penelo laughed weakly again, "So when do you think we should tell Basch?"

"When do you think you should tell Basch what?"

Both Penelo and Larsa turned in their seats and looked at the armored form of Basch fon Rasenburg, or Gabranth as he was called inside the walls of the palace. Larsa leaned back in the couch he was sitting on, his arms spread along the back of the piece of furniture as the young Emperor dryly replied, "Congratulations."

Basch tilted his helmeted head as he walked closer towards the pair, "Congratulations for what?"

Larsa smiled at the armored man, "Congratulations on becoming a father of two three year old boys, Gabranth."

It was at this time that Basch's foot jerked in surprise, along with the rest of his body, in mid stride, causing him to lose balance and fall squarely onto his back.

Larsa shook his head and turned to Penelo, "Well then, I guess I'll just have to see to it that Gabranth becomes the Ambassador of Archadia in the country of Dalmasca. That should make everyone happy, yes?"

Penelo smiled as she got up from her seat, "Thank you Larsa. I was actually going to ask you that, but it looks like you already guessed." She leaned down slightly and kissed his cheek, "Thanks again, Larsa."

Larsa was glad that Penelo's attention was on the comatose Basch, as he didn't know what he would do should she discover that his cheeks had grown slightly red.

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TBC

AN: There it is, the first chapter in the sequel to "Without you, I'm not Me." This will be both a sequel and a prequel at the same time.


	2. Pity the Fathers, Lady's New Job

Seas would Rise: Chapter Two, Pity the Fathers, Lady's New Job

The 38 year old Larsa Solidor turned in his seat to face the Sky Pirate and leader of Belfonheim, Vaan Ratsbane. "So, how have things been with you these past two years since we last saw each other?"

Vaan shrugged as he flicked a couple of switches near his pilot's chair, "They've been fairly standard, to tell you the truth. I've started teaching a couple of youngsters the ins and outs of the trade."

Larsa raised an eyebrow and asked, "And who would the two, "youngsters" as you put it, be?"

Vaan flicked one last switch, and the overhead light display clicked on, showing the words _Autopilot Engaged_ in a pale green light. He then swiveled the chair around to talk to the Emperor of Archadia face to face. "Well, the boy is my son, Reks, and the other is a girl that is a friend of his from Belfonheim."

Larsa chuckled lightly, "I see you're still terrible with names. How nostalgic."

Vaan mock growled at the younger man, "I miss when you were a kind spoken young man called Lamont, you were so much easier to deal with then."

Larsa rolled his eyes, "Whatever you wish to believe, Vaan. Though I'll have you know I have actually mellowed out since then."

Vaan laughed, "I think it's the other way around, Larsa, but whatever."

There was a knock on the door, and a young man with short red hair poked his head out. "Hey dad, where are we going today? You didn't really give us a whole lot of details before we all of a sudden left, you know."

Vaan stood up and made his way to the door, opening it up all the way, grabbing the red head by the scruff of his neck, and dragging him into the cabin. He turned to Larsa and said, "Oh, and before you get confused, yes, this is Reks, my tiny little son."

The sixteen year old red head named Reks shoved his father away playfully, "I ain't that tiny anymore, you little slip of a father."

Vaan pushed his son back through the doorway, "That's enough lip from you, young man. Now go, take care of our other guest, keep him entertained as I talk with my old friend here."

Reks waved his hand in a nonchalant manner, "Yeah, yeah. I'm going I'm going."

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The 18 year old Cidolfus Solidor, Larsa's one and only son, sighed as he rested against side of the airship he was currently riding in.

"Hey, Cid, you holding up all right?" asked Reks as he made his way back down the short passage to the Lounge Cabin in the middle of the airship where the young prince of Archadia was currently relaxing.

The prince nodded at the red haired young man, "Yeah, Reks, I'm doing just fine. I haven't seen you in almost two years, and here I find you finally learning the trade from your dad. How's that coming along?"

Reks shrugged his shoulders, easygoing as he always was, "Not bad. He still won't let me pilot his ship, but he does let me do some maintenance work on her, which works out just fine for me, if you want my opinion."

Cid nodded his head, his short, dark brown hair appearing a murky red in the light given off by the flickering light above the two adolescent males' skulls. He cleared his throat uncomfortably and winced, "Hey, Reks, you got anything to drink? I feel like I'm dying of thirst over here."

Reks nodded and jumped over the counter in the center of the room, landing on the raised section of the room that led to the back part of the ship. "Water all right with you?" he asked.

Cid raised his voice slightly so that Reks, who had already rounded the corner, could hear him. "That's fine with me," he shouted back.

Cid heard the sound of light weight feet making his way towards him, and he turned to look as a young girl of fifteen made her way into the central area. She was wearing light colored pants and shirt, with a leather vest adding extra padding against attacks. Her jet black hair was braided into one long braid that fell over her shoulder, and both of her wrists were covered with wide bracelets.

Cid smirked, before leaning down and picking up his short sword. Unsheathing it with a flourish, he smiled maniacally as he ran and jumped up over the six foot long table that separated him from the young girl, blade poised to strike her while her back was turned.

However, the young woman spun around right before he could slash her, an exact copy of the sword that was in Cid's hands in her own. The sound of the clash of metal striking metal echoed throughout the cabin, and Reks was quick to make his way back into the room.

"What the hell are you two doing?" he shrieked.

Cid laughed and put an arm around the young girl's shoulders, who smiled shyly as Cid said out loud, "Don't worry about it, Reks, that's just how we've grown accustomed to greeting one another." He turned his head slightly to look at the young girl, "Isn't that right, Natalia?"

The young woman rolled her eyes, smiling at the confused expression on Reks's face. "Don't worry, Reks, he's speaking the truth." She shrugged her shoulders helplessly, "Big brothers, can't live with him, can't quite seem to kill them either."

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Larsa ruffled his daughter's hair as they walked away from the airship into the large metal facility. "When I said you could visit Belfonheim, and maybe stay there a little bit, that wasn't what I meant, 'Talia."

Natalia giggled and hugged her father, "It's good to see you too, Papa."

Larsa returned the hug, "Indeed it is, little 'Talia." He took a deep breath, tightening his grip slightly, before continuing, "I don't mind if you want to stay in Belfonheim, or even become a sky pirate, but you could at least write every now and then."

Natalia kissed her father's cheek before breaking the embrace, "Okay then, Papa, I'll be sure to write you more often once I become a sky pirate." Laughing, she then skipped away in order to catch up to Reks and Cid, who were arguing good naturedly.

Larsa groaned and rubbed his forehead, "That's not what I meant, Natalia."

He heard a voice chuckle behind him, and he turned to see Balthier, graying at the temples, walk towards him with a smirk on his lips, "Daughter troubles, young Emperor?"

Larsa nodded tiredly, "Yes." He sighed and crossed his arms over his chest, "It's times like this that I miss her mother more than anything."

Balthier slapped the young Archadian on the back, "Chin up, old man. The world isn't coming to an end just yet. Be glad for what you have, old man, and rejoice that the world has decided to leave you with at least _that_ much."

Larsa smiled softly, "You have a valid point as always, Balthier." The young emperor raised an eyebrow, "You seem stressed out, old man, what ever could be the cause of it?"

It was Balthier's turn to groan, "Same problem as you, your highness. I'm a father who has a teenage daughter." He gave Larsa a sidelong glance, "And I'm not too trusting of your son, either."

Larsa raised an eyebrow as he glanced at his son, who at that moment was greeting the half viera, half hume woman along with her viera mother. The daughter of Balthier and Fran had slightly lighter skin than her mother, and the ears that were atop her mother's head were absent from her own. "And why is that?" he said in an amused tone, "Would it have anything to do with the six months that they were trapped all alone together in that other plane of existence?"

Balthier growled, "That has something to do with it, yes."

Larsa slapped the pirate's back good naturedly, "Well then, we should get going and catch up with Gabranth, I'm sure he wants to get us to our destination so that he can sit down and rest."

Balthier began to gesture animatedly as the two fathers began to walk towards the rest of the group, "Ah yes! About that, couldn't you have warned me who he was first? I nearly had a heart attack when I first saw him, you know. I thought Basch had come to collect my bounty, or even worse than that, his dead brother decided to collect it for him...."

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Penelo gave the 18 year old Larsa a weird expression. "What do you mean that Basch is coming back to Archadia? I thought he was going to become the ambassador here!"

Larsa placed a finger on Penelo's lips, effectively silencing her as he spoke in a quiet voice, "That was my original plan, but in order to not raise a giant fuss, a couple of things have to happen before he can become as such."

Penelo batted Larsa's hand away. She huffed and put the backs of her hands on the side of her hips, leaning close to Larsa and saying, "And why would you be worried about a fuss?"

Larsa smirked lightly before reaching out with a gloved hand and placing an errant lock of Penelo's hair back behind her ear, as she had taken out her braids earlier that same evening. "It would be better in the long run for everyone involved if they ended up married, don't you think?" Penelo gasped, startled, and then nodded her head numbly. Larsa continued, "Well then, it's going to take about five to seven years for me to see to it that he is eligible to be her husband. In the meantime, he can stay here in secret for a couple of years before his presence is required back in Archadia."

Penelo blushed slightly and sat back down, "Oh. I thought you meant that he was going to have to come back to Archadia immediately."

Larsa stood up to leave in order to turn in for the night, but first bent down slightly and whispered in Penelo's ear, "You know something, my dear Penelo? You're cute when you blush like that." He then straightened his posture, turned around, and walked out of the room.

Penelo held her hands to her cheeks, "He thinks I'm cute? Where did that come from?"

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"Basch, I think I've found something of yours," said Larsa with an amused tone.

Basch turned around to see Larsa carrying a sleepy toddler in his arms. The older man smiled and shook his head in bemused puzzlement. "Now where did this one run off to this time? I've only known them for a week, but I can tell that this one truly enjoys exploration."

Larsa chuckled as he placed the youngster into Basch's waiting arms. "He told me he wanted to 'talk with the pretty lady and the glove guy', as he put it."

Basch quirked an eyebrow, "I can tell that you're the 'glove guy', but who was the other that he was referring to?"

Larsa shrugged, "Who else but Penelo?"

"You three discuss anything interesting?"

"He wanted to know why I kept referring to you as 'Gabanth'. That and he thinks I had you delivering mail for me while you were in my employ."

Basch glanced at his young son, who at this point was blissfully sleeping in his father's arms. "I did more than that, Noah."

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Ashe gave Penelo a light hug, "It was so good to see you again, Penelo." Stepping back, she glanced at both the young sky pirate and the Emperor of Archadia. She winked and said, "Thanks for bringing home ambassador Gabranth, by the way. I can assure you his presence here will be _most_ welcome."

Larsa smiled at the Queen of Dalmasca, "I do what I can, your Majesty."

Little Noah tugged on the hem of his mother's dress, "Is the glove guy and the pretty lady leaving Mama?"

Ashe smiled at the improper grammar. "That's right, sweetie, they're both going back to Archadia. Penelo's going to assist Larsa with some things since Papa won't be there to help him out for a while."

Noah attempted to nod sagely, but since he was a three year old boy, it turned out more adorable than solemn. This made Penelo gush, and she bent down and gave Noah a quick hug. "Don't worry, Noah, we'll meet again." She smiled mischievously, "Who knows? You could very well become the third Judge Magister 'Gabanth' someday."

Basch shook his head, "If it ever does happen, I think I might faint from shock."

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TBC

AN: Happy New Year, everyone! Hope ya'll enjoyed the chapter. Reviews are most welcome.

(Tracklist – Single track – Mortal Kombat Movie – Theme Song)

_**(Finish Him!) **xP_


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